Nanophenes have one or more single layer arrays or networks of a predominant atom, typically carbon, although up to 50 percent of the predominant atom can be substituted by one or more other atoms. Nanophenes can also be functionalized or otherwise reacted to other chemical species. Representative nanophenes include nanotubes; nanohorns (nanotubes having one closed end); fullerenes, for example, C60 fullerenes, C70 fullerenes, C76/78 fullerenes, or C84 fullerenes; and the like.
The nanophene layer (or for multi-walled nanophenes, each layer) will tend to curl or otherwise orient in a spherical, tubular, or cornucopia type pattern. In considering a nanophene structure, two axes or directions are noteworthy: (i) the traverse or “y” direction perpendicular to the layer(s); and (ii) the axial or “x” direction parallel to the layer(s) (and perpendicular to the y direction). Nanophenes have an average length in the y direction of less than 100 nanometers. The x direction length of a nanophene can be virtually any length, at least theoretically, but typically is less than a millimeter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,980 discloses nanotubes and nanoparticles having stoichiometries of BxCyNz, where x, y, and z are integers including zero where no more than one of x, y, and z are zero for a given stoichiometry.